Blue Hawaii

060386 / G / US / 1961 / Presley, Elvis / / drama/comedy/music
Blue Hawaii / Sininen Havaiji. © Hal B. Wallis; Joseph H. Hazen. A Paramount release. D: Norman Taurog. SC: Hal Kanter - based on the story by Alan Weiss. DP: Charles D. Lang. ST: Edith Head. Best songs include: ”Moonlight Swim”, ”Ku-u-i-po”, ”No More”, ”Can’t Help Falling In Love”. CAST: Elvis Presley (Chadwick Gates = Chad), Joan Blackman (Maile Duval), Angela Lansbury (Sarah Lee Gates = mother). 101’. Colour, scope. MPAA Seal 19966. Print with beautiful colour definition: SEA / Valio-Filmi. Viewed in Helsinki, SEA, Cinema Orion, Wednesday 4 March 1998. ** Elvis Presley movies became a subgenre of their own in the 1960s. This is a prototype for future Elvis films to come. Elvis is a Hawaiian pineapple millionaire’s son: a beach boy returning from the army and wanting to start on his own, first as a tourist guide, and rebelling against parents to marry his half-native sweetheart. Elvis’s voice is at its best, but most of the songs are unworthy.

Pardners

045501 / 12 / US / 1956 / Lewis, Jerry / / comedy

Pardners / Peloton sheriffi. PC: York Pictures. A Paramount release. D: Norman Taurog. Based on the film Rhythm on the Range (1936). Songs by Sammy Cahn, James Van Heusen. CAST: Jerry Lewis (Wade Kingsley), Dean Martin (Slim Mosely). 88’. Technicolor, VistaVision. PAL transmission cropped to Academy. Below average colour definition. Yleisradio TV2 on Saturday, 13 December 1997. *** Absurd comedy Western wears well today. It’s a Jerry Lewis showcase as a mama’s boy who has to transform into a rodeo star, a cowboy, and a sheriff. His pantomimes are masterful. On the small box it is hard to appreciate them properly, since they are often in medium or general shot.